Those Tekken fans who are looking forward to seeing a return of the series’ non-human characters, like Kuma and Roger Jr., might not want to get their hopes up yet. Producer Katsuhiro Harada has told Siliconera in an interview that the addition of non-human characters ends up prompting very mixed responses from fans, making the decision to add them “very difficult.” While some fans see them as part of Tekken, others see them as unnecessary additions to an otherwise serious fighting game. Harada explained:

It’s very difficult. They were part of Tekken and we’ve seen when they’re not there we have a lot of fans who say those characters are what made Tekken interesting we want to see them again. But, if we do introduce them, we get another side of the community who says, “What’s your problem? Why are you putting animals into my proper fighting game?” Then the people who got the animal characters are happy and they become quiet, but then the voices saying, “What’s your problem why are these crazy characters in the game?” are left. It’s very hard and it’s something we would like to think in depth about.

Speaking of the game’s roster, Harada was asked if Tekken 7‘s console roster will be expanded beyond Fated Retribution, to which he said that it’s something he “can’t answer right now.” “We will be releasing additional characters, but we can’t say who, how many or if there will be any additions on consoles,” he added.

Elsewhere in the interview, Harada confirmed that players won’t have to pay to unlock any items in the game. However, if it’s something that fans want included and is borrowed from another series, like Street Fighter V‘s Karin costume, it will be released as DLC to cover royalty costs.